Most fraud doesn't start with someone breaking into a system. It starts with someone tricking a person. If a message feels urgent, secret, or a bit off, pause and use this guide.
1. Fake emails, texts and calls
Someone pretends to be Calen, a bank, a colleague, or a company you already know. They try to make it feel urgent, then ask you to sign in, share a code, or send money.
It can look like a fake sign-in email, a text asking you to "unlock your account", or a call from a number that looks real. Messages, voices and images can be faked with AI. A familiar voice on a call isn't proof of who is calling.
What to do: Don't click the link. Open Calen yourself by typing https://calen.finance or using your app, or contact us in-app or at [email protected]. See What Calen will never ask you.
2. "Please send it here instead"
Watch for an unexpected request to pay a supplier, a landlord, a school or a family member to a new account. Or a message that looks like it's from someone you know, asking you to send money now and "I'll explain later".
Offers that start with a small transfer and then ask for more are another warning sign. So is a request to receive money into your Calen account and pass it on to someone else.
What to do: Check with the person through a separate channel you already trust, for example a number you already have, not the one in the message. If the money has already gone, tell us straight away so we can help.
3. Someone gets into your account
This often starts with a fake sign-in page, a password you've used elsewhere, or software that lets someone else control your screen. Warning signs include a password-reset email you didn't ask for, payments you didn't start, or being unable to sign in.
What to do: Follow What to do if you think your account has been compromised straight away.
4. Sharing your account details
It's fine to share the account name and number we show you, Interac details for your CAD wallet, or a USDC or USDT deposit address plus the network shown in the app. Those details are there so people can pay you. On their own, they shouldn't let someone take money out.
Never send your password, PIN, one-time codes, or photos of your ID in the same conversation, unless you're sure you're inside official Calen verification.
Good to know: If a request is urgent, secret, or asks you to skip the way you normally sign in or send money, pause.
Quick tip: Confirm new payment details on a channel you already use, not only on the email that asked you to change them.
What's next: See What Calen will never ask you, How to report suspicious activity, and How to protect your business account.